Dakota Beacon

For those who see no problem with "big government," the latest Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation will be greeted as business as usual.

Americans were told on November 7 that transfats are no longer permitted in their diet. The FDA adopted new rules restricting transfats in food. Outgoing New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was ahead of his time. Yet, as an indication of unpopularity, the same measures favored by Bloomberg and the FDA went down to defeat in the Colorado elections earlier this month.

Many months ago, seeing the writing on the wall, the food industry spent considerable money on various alternatives to transfats. Three-fourths of transfats are already gone from prepared foods. Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonald's have been experimenting with transfat frying oil substitutes to see if consumers might accept the changes without noticing the taste. So far they have met with only moderate success. The federal government will now force the industry to rid the market of all transfats, something the industry has not been able to accomplish. The consumer will literally pay the price in cost and quality.

Transfats are created when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil to make it more solid. It can contribute to heart disease. But then, too, can other fats as well as lack of exercise -- not yet under government control.

Transfats have been around since 1911 with the introduction of Crisco vegetable shortening. It was used often after butter was rationed during World War II. The FDA has now determined transfats are a threat to public health.

FDA regulations eliminate choice in diet. Food labels are currently required on most products. That should be sufficient to the people interested in transfats. If a person chooses to ignore transfats indicated on the label, that is their choice. Labeling, however, was the first step to control. With Obamacare now in place, the FDA, as an arm of Obama's administration, will determine everyone's diet because the feds are paying for, or will soon pay for, everybody's health care. The feds play by the Golden Rule: he who has the gold makes the rules.

One has to love the way bureaucrats throw numbers around. FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg says the ban on transfats could prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths a year. Just like that. How does she know? No reference point. No citation of source. That's just the way it is and we should believe it. Because she "cares."

The federal government marches forward under the pretense that faceless bureaucrats know best because they "care" -- which is an oxymoron. An impersonal bureaucracy is no more caring than a stone wall.

The fact is that the government is not capable of caring. In their eyes it is sufficient that the government knows what is best for you and therefore can force you to comply. Government gets things done through coercion. They get things done through excessive taxes, fines, jail, confiscation, penalizing and all around bullying. We've seen it with manufacturers of coal energy, light bulbs, toilets. This is not compassion. It is coercion.

Of course, reformulating and imposing alternatives to transfats increases food cost. In a hurting economy, increased food prices can only hurt those it is intended to help. The law of unintended consequences lives on.

Next on the FDA's radar screen for banned foods are basic food additives such as sugar and salt. Many scientists familiar with FDA food policy believe the FDA will move forward on these prohibitions on grounds that "excessive" consumption of sugar and salt is a public health hazard.
After corralling medical care and food production and imposing onerous taxation and regulation, what else can be done to subdue a population? Whatever remains can be accomplished through Executive Orders.

Our Founding Fathers had a problem with "big government" for good reason and opted for a limited government. As our federal government continues to grow and impose control, the wisdom of the Founders appears more profound.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at P. O. Box 337, Stanley, ND 58784 or (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).